Iranian film-maker loses appeal amid pre-vote crackdown

DUBAI – An Iranian film-maker convicted of insulting the Islamic Republic has lost his appeal and now faces jail and lashing, a source said on Monday, as an apparent crackdown on artists and writers intensified ahead of elections this week.

Keywan Karimi, 30, was found guilty last year of “insulting the sacred and spreading propaganda” in a documentary about political graffiti in Tehran called “Writing On The City”. An appeals court this week confirmed Karimi’s six-year sentence, suspending five of them, and condemned him to 223 lashes and a fine for “shaking hands with women and drinking alcoholic drinks,” a source close to the issue said.